Anyone who has ever laughed out loud while watching the "Seinfeld" well-known episode about soup might agree, that this humorous depiction of a soup-maker who knows how to create soup recipes that can make a person's knees buckle; may not be that far from the truth.
One person in New Jersey, Pamela Major, has developed a line of "Souper-Bowl" winning recession-proof and very affordable soups; designed to keep customers healthy during these challenging economic times.
While Pamela is nothing like the soup-making character in that hilarious sitcom episode, she has been able to develop a line of soup products that can make a person stop in his or her tracks to savor the delicious tasting soups!
The Pampered Pot Soups, is the brainchild of founder and owner, Pamela Major; and LifelineExtensions.blog was able to get an interview with Pamela recently, where she shares some of her winning business ideas with our readers.
LifelineExtensions: Pamela, our readers may be wondering why we're talking about soup during this hot weather in August. But, I've tasted your soups before and know that your recipes can be enjoyed in any season. Why don't you tell the readers about your background before we start talking about The Pampered Pot Soups.
Pamela: Certainly. And, thanks for this time. I'm a child of American and West Indian descent, and have been a strong proponent of education, hospitality, and entertainment for most of my adult life. A few of things I love to do are dance, sing, and speak publicly.
There are vivid memories of a lot of family gatherings growing up, and they were always centered around good food and great conversation.
The gatherings usually happened at my paternal grandmother's house, and she was the person I asked to teach me how to cook.
I learned even as a child that food could bring people together. And, good food can keep people together.
So, by the time I was five years old I knew that I would graduate from college, learn how to cook extremely well, and have my own business.
I have a Bachelor's degree in Fashion Merchandising and a Master’s degree in Teaching, and I've worked in New York City's Fashion District. Also, I was a fashion magazine editor before working as an elementary school teacher in a Northern New Jersey school district.
As much as I grew to love teaching, by 2004 I knew it was time to leave the comfort of my classroom and explore my lifelong entrepreneurial dreams.
LifelineExtensions: So, by five you knew where you wanted to go. Incredible! Talk to us about some of the business concepts and ventures you've had over the years, and even a little about how you came up with a company name.
Pamela: Once I'd actually left teaching, my start-up company, Major Details, made and sold high-quality skin products called “Being Pampered.”
When I saw over time how much my clients were enjoying and benefiting from my pampering products, I decided to branch out even more to include spa services and healthy meals. This really began with me being invited to a number of women’s and educational conferences to promote and sell my products.
I've had a lot of business ideas, with The Pampered Pot Soups, being my primary business focus today. Pampered Parlour will be an actual physical location to provide spa services and Pampered Pot Soups to our clients.
The business component names have really just been a play on words using the letters of my name, which my clients seem to enjoy as much as I do!
People tend to think that pampering requires lots of money, but it really doesn't. That's an important reminder, especially during a Great Recession.
The very affordable notion of pampering is really all about self-care. Pampering is an excellent way for us to manage all of the intense and sometimes unexpected issues we're confronted with in life.
All of this promotes stress on the body, so by taking a little time to invest in some pampering we are able to eliminate, reduce, or manage stress.
Eating foods good for the palate and good for the body is one of the best ways to do this, and that's where The Pampered Pot Soups comes in.
LifelineExtensions: How is the business set up?
Pamela: Right now, The Pampered Pot Soups falls under Pampered Parlour, and we're working toward getting it set up as an LLC. We're also investigating grants and other small business funding resources to help jump start this component of the business.
One major goal is to blend education with entrepreneurship because we really want to have young people, especially those who are at risk of failing and falling through the cracks; to learn how to run a successful business.
We'd eventually like to see the same young people who are trained, coached, and mentored by us regarding how to operate a business, be in a position to purchase the business themselves. We're working hard to set up the business so that it will adequately support the youth who do wind up purchasing it.
LifelineExtensions: Who are The Pampered Pot Soup's customers? And, who are your competitors?
Pamela: We basically target a customer-base that includes anyone who works either outside or inside of the home. A lot of our focus is on the working parents who can't seem to find the time to get good meals during the course of the workday.
To be able to have a healthy and affordable meals' van pull right up to your workplace or home to sell you a healthy meal including "super soups" packed with vegetables, broths, and other healthy ingredients, is something our clients have told us they really appreciate and look forward to.
A lot of our customer focus is also on the vegan and vegetarian population because we don't use red meat or pork in any of our recipes. Our soup stocks are homemade by The Pampered Pot Soups, and every single ingredient is field-tested and carefully monitored.
We understand that we're competing against at least a few well-established soup-making franchises, but we offer something we have not seen them offer: The Pampered Pot Soups takes our soups right to the doorsteps of our clients by way of what we like to call Soup Clutches and Soup Tasting Parties. Also, we allow our clients to purchase their soup orders on-line because we know how busy and stretched they already are.
LifelineExtensions: To date, what have been your biggest hurdles to overcome?
Pamela: Listening to people. I remember the very first time I had the idea to focus on making soups, and I had only two recipes at the time. The ideas for how to frame The Pampered Pot Soups started flowing non-stop!
I was so excited that I began sharing some of my business concepts with people to field-test a response, if you will. There was one person that I mentioned my ideas to, and every single word out of the person's mouth was completely negative.
Unfortunately, I allowed that one negative response to damage and disable the process.
As time went on and my soup recipe portfolio increased significantly, I regained my confidence and strength to revisit the idea about The Pampered Pot Soups. I remember driving down a road one day and seeing a huge billboard posted by one of my competitors. So, I made a promise to myself at that moment to re-fuel the business and go for it.
LifelineExtensions: Pamela, would you talk some about how you handle advertising and promotions; and about your future plans for The Pampered Pot Soups?
Pamela: Presently, our promotions and advertising is done using the Internet and a good amount of "word of mouth" from our satisfied clients. We're in the process of forming alliances with a few health and wellness food outlets and franchises because we'd like to sell our soups both wholesale and retail.
In about a year's time we plan to have investors to help support our business efforts; we're calling them our Souper-Bowl Investors. We're also trying to partner with local agencies that work specifically with young people and unemployed adults so we can recruit some of these individuals to train and staff the business. In the meantime, we're also keeping our eyes open for a possible location for a Souper-Bowl outlet for our soups.
One other thing I'd like to mention about the people we're going to recruit either for paid positions or for community service and volunteer positions, is that it will be critical for these individuals to at the very least have a love of cooking meals with good, healthy, and fresh products.
They have to firmly believe in what they will be doing and why, and they'll also need a strong ability to identify when a meal that's been prepared is good or not.
And, we'll certainly need team players who don't mind working hard. We want driven individuals who are honest, business-minded, and have a great amount of integrity.
The Pampered Pot Soups will offer training for the technical side of the business, and we're even planning to begin a series of professional development workshops in January 2010 for both high school and college students who want to provide community service volunteer help. During the training we'll also coach the trainees so we can determine along with them what the best fit will be for them in the business.
LifelineExtensions: Pricing, paperwork, and challenging clients are factors every business has to deal with. How does The Pampered Pot Soups do it?
Pamela: We're very aware of the financial constraints placed on working people even in a good economy, and we're particularly sensitive to the current climate. Typically, we base our prices on the type of soup. For example, our seafood soups may cost slightly a bit more than our other soups; only because seafood costs more. We do, however, stay current about what our competitors charge for their soups; so we really focus on making our prices more appealing and competitive.
Regarding the endless paperwork; knowing that if I don't manage it properly it will kill me has given me the constant push to just get it done! Oh, I've tried it the other way; but the results only served to stall the business process and make us take a few steps back.
We've realized that we always have to keep track of what we're doing down to the smallest detail. The end result of where we're heading always has to be in the forefront of our minds. So, we know exactly what we're spending.
Right now, I'm managing all of the paperwork. But, I can't wait for the day when it's not me! Then again, the beauty of handling this yourself for a while is that when you do farm it out; you can actually assist the people handling different parts of the business so that things are handled in a way you'd envisioned.
And, yes. We have had our share of challenging clients. But, we try to research the customer-base as well as possible before we actually transact business with them.
After we've established a business relationship with clients, if we even sense they are dissatisfied with our products or services we invite the conversation about what their actual business needs are. Once we have that additional data, if we see that the match still isn't working; we direct the customer to one of our competitors that might be a better fit.
The Pampered Pot Soups believes there's enough consistent business out there for all of us, and the important thing is making sure our customers are satisfied.
LifelineExtensions: Well, Pamela. This has been wonderful. I'm going to ask you to wrap up this interview by sharing any final thoughts you have with LifelineExtensions.blog's readers. Thanks for agreeing to do this interview.
Pamela: It's been my pleasure! The first thought I want to share is that this is a great time to start a business. The game "Monopoly" was invented during The Great Depression, and there are so many examples of inventions and business developments created out of human disparity. So, don't allow any current circumstances to govern where you're destined to go. If you have a passion or dream about some type of business concept, nurture it. Start with whatever you have, and just go for it! And, PLEASE be careful regarding who you share your business ideas and dreams with. You want honesty from the people you share with, but you don't want or need disabling negativity.
Finally, I'd love to hear from anyone interested in trying out some of The Pampered Pot Soups specialities. We even have some clients who are Mary Kay Consultants, and they order our products to be served at parties they're hosting.
You can either call us at 732-718-1570, or you can go on-line to check out our menus, place orders, or arrange to have us host a conference or party. Our website is info@pamperedpotsoups.com.
Sharon M. Biggs, M.A. -- Educational Leader
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